The Journey of Gerald Robotnik
by Whiterose0
Summary: Gerald discovers an ancient scroll, one that seemingly belonged to the princess of a long forgotten race. What secrets does this scroll hold, and what consequences will arise from its discovery?
1. Discovery

All characters belong to their respective owners.

-----------------------------------------------------------

**The Journey of Gerald Robotnik - Chapter 1: Discovery**

"Look, Maria. Look at what I've found!"

Ten tiny fingers clamped around a dusty old scroll. The young girl shot a curious look at the strange writing on parchment.

"Why is the writing so funny, Grandpa?" the young girl asked.

"Ah, that is an excellent question, Maria. You see; this scroll belonged to the princess of an ancient tribe of echidnas!"

Maria gave the parchment a hard look, "What's so great about a diary?" she asked.

"You see, Maria, this, "diary," as you put it, can tell us a lot about the times in which the writer lived. While you read it, it's almost as if you're transported to another world . . ." Gerald's eyes began to look distant, as they often did when he discussed things of this nature.

"Grandpa?" Gerald snapped out of his daydream and looked at his Granddaughter.

"Yes, Maria?"

"How are we supposed to read it if it's written in a different language?" Gerald was taken aback by the question, not that it was a difficult question, it's just that the answer was so simple. He had to remind himself that she was only five.

"Well, my dear, we find someone who can read that language, and ask him to translate it for us."

"Oh . . ." Maria silently scolded her self for asking such an obvious question. She didn't want her grandfather to think her stupid. Maria thought of another question, she hoped this one wouldn't be so obvious, "Grandpa?"

"Yes?"

"How are we supposed to find someone who can read that language?"

"Well, Maria. Who better to read the language of the Echidna, than an Echidna?"

"But, Grandpa, aren't Echidna's ecstict, Estink, Es-"

"Extinct?"

"Yeah! That's the word!" Maria chirped happily.

"Not quite, it's not common knowledge, but there are a few living on a floating island . . ."

Maria's eyes widened, "A . . . Floating island?" She couldn't believe such a thing existed, it went against everything her grandfather had (tried) to teach her.

"Yes, a floating island . . ." Gerald's eyes once again took on a distant quality. "I didn't believe it at first either. Until I saw it. And it was, without a doubt, the most beautiful thing I have ever saw."

Maria's eyes somehow widened even more, "Wow . . . Can we go there?"

Gerald paused for a minute, "I don't know . . ." he teased, "You might be to young . . ."

"Oh, come on, grandpa! Please."

"I still don't know . . ."

Maria suddenly dropped to her hands a knees and began to grovel, "Please, grandpa! Please please please please please please-" she chortled.

"All right, all right, you can go." Gerald chuckled, but his expression quickly changed to a stern one. "But, you must promise me that you will not over exert yourself!"

Maria was suddenly disheartened. She had been looking forward to running through the emerald green fields of the floating island (or, at least she _hoped_ there would be emerald green fields) "But grandpa . . . " She whined, "Why can't I run around when we get to the floating island?"

"Do you promise?" Gerald asked sternly.

"Fine . . ." She said sadly. Maria knew it was useless to argue with Gerald once his mind was made up. "But, grandpa . . . You never answered my question! Why can't I play outside like the other kids? Why do I have to live on this space colony?" Maria had asked this question many times, but had always gotten the same answer . . .

"I'll tell you when you're older."

"That's what you always say . . ."

There was an awkward silence between the two.

Gerald suddenly looked at the clock, as if he were looking for an excuse to leave Maria.

"Wow. Is it that late already? Well, we should be getting to bed, good night, Maria." Gerald left the room in a rush, leaving Maria to wonder about the floating island, her argument with Gerald, already forgotten.

---------------------

Morning came far to soon for Gerald. He had been up all night trying to find where the floating island currently was. His efforts had been futile. If the Echidna's on the island did not want to be found, there was little hope to locate them. A knock at the door interrupted Gerald's thoughts.

"Grandpa? Are you in there?" A small, excited voice asked.

"Yes, Maria, come on in."Came the tired response. The door was suddenly forced open and the young girl rushed in and began jumping up-and-down in excitement.

"Today's the day! Today we get to go to the floating island!"

Gerald chuckled.

"Clam down Maria." He gently responded, but, his soft face soon changed to one of disappointment. "I'm sorry, but, I was unable to locate the floating island . . ."

Maria's face became etched in an unmistakable emotion, sadness.

"Oh. Well, could you look again?"

"I'm sorry, Maria, but it's useless, if the Echidna's don't want to be found, we won't find

them . . ."

"But, Grandpa, one more look couldn't hurt . . ."

"I'm sorry, but it's useless . . ."

"Come on! Just one more look!"

Gerald sighed, he decided to look one more time, just to appease his granddaughter.

"All right, Maria. I'll look one more time." Gerald got out of his seat, and walked over to his telescope (which looked out of one of the ARK's "eyes"), "Okay, let's see here . . . Where is the floating island . . ." Gerald began to scan all of the earth he could see, but saw no sign of the floating island.

"I'm sorry, Maria, but I still can't find . . . Wait! I think I've found it!" A cloud cover was dissipating over what appeared to be an island in the sky. Soon, the full mass was visible, you could see the floating island, in all it's glory. "I've done it!." Gerald cheered, "We can go to the floating island!" Maria erupted in cheers.

Maria and Gerald Robotnik, were going to the floating island, home of the last surviving members of the Echidna race.

----------------------------------------------------------

I hope you enjoyed chapter 1. Please leave a review.


	2. Journey

All characters belong to their respective owners.

------------------------------------------------------

**The Journey of Gerald Robotnik - Chapter 2 - Journey**

"So, how do you like the shuttle, Maria?"

Maria was speechless. This, was the single, greatest day of her life, in her opinion. She'd never dreamed that flying through space would be so, cool. And the destination made it all the better.

"Brace yourself, my dear, we're entering the atmosphere!"

Maria was too absorbed in the stars to hear Gerald's warning. The force from the re-entry threw her forward, luckily, she had a restraining harness on to prevent her from flying forward and smashing against the window.

The professor chuckled, "Are you all right, Maria?"

Maria had a look of complete shock on her face, "Yeah . . ." she wheezed, "I'm okay." She eventually adjusted to the gravitational force pressing against her. She stared out the window, waiting for the floating island to come into view.

The shuttle passed through a layer of clouds, and, without warning, the floating island came into view.

"Prepare your self!" He shouted over his shoulder, "We're about to land!"

The shuttle barreled toward the island at an increasing velocity. Gerald eased up on the thrust, to assure a smooth landing, he then pressed a button on the dashboard that lowered the wheels. Another button was pressed that released a parachute out of the shuttles rear, designed to decelerate the shuttle.

The shuttle touched ground, it was a perfectly smooth landing, thanks to Gerald's ingenious design of the shuttle. The door of the craft slowly slid open, allowing the passengers to exit. Maria, being the easily excitable girl that she was, charged out the door and began to run through the open field. As Gerald looked upon his granddaughter, so happy and carefree, a small smile found it's way onto his face. "Ah, the purity of youth . . ." he thought, "What I wouldn't give to relive those days . . ." He turned his head away from the grassy field they had landed on to survey his surroundings. A towering mountain loomed over the little field they had landed on, around it, ran a crystal clear river. To the west was a vast forest. All-in-all, a beautiful little place. But out of the corner of his eye, he found the most impressive sight of all . . .

A vast palace, which looked to have been abandoned for centuries, overlooked the field. Huge pillars towered up as far as the eye could see, the same could be said for the entryway.

Gerald didn't know what it was, but something compelled him to enter the palace, he called Maria, and together they entered the palace.

---------------------

Gerald looked upon his surroundings in awe. Thousands upon thousands of paintings decorated the walls, all seemingly painted onto the wall itself. Yet one stood out from the rest, at the end of the hallway it had a wall all to itself. Gerald slowly approached it, with Maria clinging tightly to his arm.

It seemed like an eternity before they reached the wall. But, when they did, it was all made worthwhile. The wall had been adorned with the most beautiful painting Gerald or Maria had ever seen. It seemed to depict a golden hedgehog with upturned quills, chasing after some kind of monster, or machine.

Suddenly, Gerald saw a bright flash of light, and, before he knew what had happened, he was standing in an infinite blackness.

---------------------

Gerald began to feel around for his granddaughter, "Maria?" he shouted in desperation, unable to locate her. Suddenly, small lights began to appear all around him. Then, a huge blue planet appeared behind him. Asteroids slowly floated into existence, and then, Gerald realized something, he was standing in space, but something puzzled him, shouldn't he be dying?

Two figures approached from the distance. As they slowly came into view, Gerald was startled to find, that he recognized the two figures! It was the golden hedgehog and the machine, they both were in the painting he had seen!

The machine turned to face the golden hedgehog, "Wh- What are you?", The machine stuttered, seemingly terrified of the hedgehog.

The hedgehog, did not respond, a look of determination etched on his features.

The machine howled in fury, as missiles began to fly from its body. The hedgehog, flying faster than anything Gerald had ever seen, scooped up the missiles and sent them back at the machine.

The missiles collied with the machine, creating a deafening explosion. It took the machine a few seconds to regain its bearings, but when it, did, it charged at the hedgehog, it's boosters flaring behind it. The machine reared back and launched a lightning-quick punch at the hedgehog. The hedgehog, ever calm, lifted up his knee and used it to block the punch. The machine's fist collided with the hedgehog's knee, and was crushed by the collision. The machine, down by one arm, seemed frozen in place, and was simply staring at the golden hedgehog. "Wha-What are you going to do to me . . . ?" the machine sputtered.

The hedgehog glowered at the machine, "You've brought this upon your self, Robotnik." He stated simply.

"Robotnik!" a wave of pain seemed to hit Gerald as soon as that name was mentioned. Gerald fell to his knees, grimacing in pain, "What do I have to do with all of this!" Gerald thought to himself. Another wave of pain, this one far more powerful that the last, crashed into Gerald. His vision started to blur, soon he could barely tell the hedgehog from the machine, which was referred to as 'Robotnik'.The pain became so great that Gerald could no longer stand to hold his head up. Flashing lights crowded his (limited) vision. It came as no surprise to Gerald when he blacked out.

----------------------

"Human!"

Maria quicky turned away from her un-conscience grandfather to see one of the strangest things she had ever seen.

An Echidna dressed in a black cloak, with the cloaks hood off. He had dreadlocks that stretched all the way down his backside and were tipped orange. His primary body color was orange, and his eyes were blood red. "What are you doing in the holy place, human?"

"H-h-holy p-place?" Maria stammered, "I-I don't know what you're talking abou-"

"Shut yer' mouth, wretch! Now, I'll ask again. _Why,_ are you in the holy place!"

Maria reached into her grandfather's coat, searching for the old parchment. She found what she was looking for, and pulled it out.

"Th-this, sir." She stuttered as she held out the scroll.

The Echidna walked over to her and snatched the parchment out of her hands. His eyes widened as looked over the scroll. When he had finished a little bit, he pocketed it, and quickly walked up to Maria.

"You!" He shouted at her, "Where did you find this?" He fixed her with a hard gaze. It made Maria feel a bit un-comfortable.

"I-I didn't find it. My Grandpa did." She stated as she pointed at Gerald. The echidna looked down at Gerald a gave him a puzzled look.

"What happened to him?" He asked aloud.

"I, don't really know." Maria fearfully stated, "We were just looking at that weird painting and he fell over . . ." She pointed to the strange painting of the hedgehog and the machine.

"The prophecy?" He fixed Gerald with another puzzled look. "Why, have the gods chosen him?" The Echidna mumbled to himself. Without saying a word, he scooped up Gerald and Maria (much to the girls protest) and made for the exit.

-------------------------------------------------

I hope you enjoyed reading this story, and please leave a review.


	3. Lift off

All characters belong to their respective owners.

And thanks, Storm, for naming my OC.

---------------------

**The Journey of Gerald Robotnik - Chapter 3 - Temple**

Angry, did not begin to describe how Maria felt.

Here she was, being dragged by the hair across the ground by some crazy Echidna! If she had known that this trip would stink so much, she wouldn't have given her Grandpa the idea to come!

Maria, the (still) un-conscience Gerald, and the strange Echidna finally got through the thick foliage and came out into a clearing. The Echidna tossed Maria and Gerald onto the ground. Gerald landed flat on his stomach, and Maria landed on her butt. She winced in pain, but the Echidna paid her no mind. He looked around the clearing until something seemed to catch his eye. Moving quickly, he picked Gerald back up and dragged him over to a nearby pond, and tossed the professor into the water.

---------------------

The pain wouldn't stop.

Gerald had no idea how long he had in pain, and by now he had stopped caring. He just wanted it to stop.

Suddenly, a cool, cleansing feeling rushed over him. The pain stopped, and his vision began to return. And, Gerald noticed something, he was under water. He desperately made for the surface.

----------------------

The Echidna stared at the pond with an icy glaze. "If that human doesn't come back soon, he's gonna' drown." He thought to himself.

As if he had been cued, Gerald's soaking wet head burst out from under the water. He looked around, trying to regain his bearings. Gerald's eyes met with the Echidna's, and they stared at each other.

"Who are you?" Gerald asked the strange Echidna.

The Echidna fixed Gerald with a hard glaze, "That's not important, human. What is important, is that you tell me, where you found-" The Echidna stopped his speech, and reached into his cloak and pulled out the old parchment, "-this?" The Echidna snarled, finished with his speech.

Gerald, who seemed to ignore the Echidna's question, restated his question, "Tell me who you are!" the Professor stated in a raspy, worn voice.

The Echidna emitted a deep sigh, annoyed with Gerald. "Fine. If you must know, my name's Fate. Now, tell me where you found this scroll!"

Gerald gave the Echidna, now known as Fate, an odd look, "Why does it matter?" Gerald asked.

Rage flashed through Fate's eyes, by now he was bloody sick of all the questions, "Just answer the damned question! Where did you find this scroll!"

Gerald decided, that it was in his best interest to answer the Echidna's question. "I found it in an old temple in the Mystic Ruin." Gerald stated flatly.

A look of confusion overcame Fate's face. He had been sure that place held nothing useful . . . Against his better judgement, he decided that he _had_ to get to those ruins. He grabbed Gerald's hand and flung him out of the water. Gerald landed with a soft crash.

"Grab the wretch and follow me to that strange machine you came in." Fate stated harshly. Gerald lifted himself up, wincing in pain, and walked over to Maria, who had been staring at the whole scene in awe. Gerald held out his hand and Maria took it, and they walked after Fate, heading to their shuttle.

Fate gestured toward the shuttle, "Get in." He stated flatly. Maria and Gerald, being in no position to disobey, complied, and got in the shuttle. Fate closed the door behind them, stepping into the ship.

"How did you even know we were even on this island?" Gerald questioned the Echidna. Fate gave Gerald a look that screamed "Are you stupid or somethin'?" But no such words came out of his mouth. Instead, Fate answered Gerald's question.

"The controller told me bout' yer' coming, so I just waited for you to show up."

Every question the Echidna answered created ten more in its place, what was the "Controller," and what did it do? Gerald resisted the urge to bombard Fate with all of his questions and simply asked, "What is the Controller?"

Fate gave Gerald and angry stare, "Why don't you _stop_ with the stupid questions and start the ship!" Fate spat.

For his own safety, Gerald decided against asking all of his questions. He told Maria to go sit in the chair next to his, and started the ship. The thrusters started, and the group was off for the Mystic Ruin.

---------------------

Sorry for the short lenthh, I'll try to make the next chapter longer. And plese, leave a review.


End file.
